


Living With Determination (A Persona 3 Retelling)

by Empress_Stick



Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, no beta we die like shinji
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:54:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25923943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Empress_Stick/pseuds/Empress_Stick
Summary: A retelling of the Persona 3 story where Makoto Yuki and Kotone Shiomi (The potential Male and Female protagonists) are adopted siblings, and their viewpoints on the story switch between the two.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

_Time never waits._

_It delivers all equally to the same end._

  
  


_You kindred souls, whose souls are linked by death itself, y_ _ou two who wish to safeguard the future,_ _however limited it may be…_

  
  


_You will be given one year;_ _go forth without falter,_ _with your heart as your guide._

  
  


Hearing these words within his head, and vaguely seeing the image of a bright blue butterfly, Makoto Yuki slowly opened his eyes with a groan. He glanced out at the interior of the train car he and his sister were riding on their way to Tatsumi Port Island, and his gaze briefly moved to her. The plucky auburn-haired girl was fast asleep; her face pressed up against the window of the train car as she slept. Yuki felt a small smile form on his face, and he closed his eyes, dismissing those words as merely his mind messing with him as he drifted back to sleep.

Hours later, hearing the loud crackling voice come from the train’s announcement system, and he groggily rubbed his eyes, yawning.  
  


_Due to a malfunction in the switching system, today's rail schedule_

_has been greatly altered. We apologize to any customers who were in a hurry._

_We will arrive at our final stop soon_.

Looking outside the window, at the night sky, he sighed. _So that’s why. We were supposed to arrive hours ago._ He thought to himself, before feeling a tapping on his shoulder. Realizing the music from his headphones was still playing, he took them out of his ears, looking over where Kotone sat, a smile on her face. “Earth to Makoto? Is anyone home?” She said teasingly. “The train’s almost arrived. I was about to wake you up, but it looks like the announcement did it for me.”   
  
The two made small talk for the rest of the ride, which only lasted for a couple of minutes, as the train pulled into the station.

_We have now arrived at Iwatodai Station. Please disembark at this time._ The voice rang out once more.

Stretching, Kotone stood up and off of the seat, grabbing her small bag. “Well, this is it. We’d better get going.” She said to Makoto, who was staring out through the window. He slowly nodded, standing up and grabbing his bag, and the two left the train, walking into the station. On their walk out of the station, Kotone paused to look at a clock on the wall.

_Tick. Tick. Tick._

“It’s almost time.” She muttered to herself with a shiver, before running to catch up with Makoto, who simply stared straight ahead, not showing any signs of acknowledgment. “You know if you acted more friendly, people would talk to you more,” Kotone remarked. He glanced at her and shrugged. He didn’t feel any need to talk to people; What would be the point? As much as he loved his sister, he often wasn’t that expressive to her. They had gotten along well in the past few years, but their relationship left a lot to be desired. Not to say they didn’t care for each other, they were still brother and sister, they had just had grown apart in the years since the incident ten years ago. They never talked about it. Neither of them wanted to.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts away from the subject, he noticed the lights begin to dim, before turning off entirely, even his music player went silent. As they walked outside, the yellow moon became visible, the environment around them filled with coffins, the very air itself feeling hostile, and alien, even after all this time. He guessed he’d never get used to the feeling, not that he wanted to. The two continued, passing by coffin after coffin. Kotone glanced at each one, wondering why it was this happened every night, while Makoto simply ventured on, acting almost like he didn’t notice. 

A scream in the distance rang out, and Kotone looked out at where the sound came from, visibly disturbed. It seemed she hadn’t ever grown accustomed to it either. He knew the thoughts that must be burning in her mind, wishes that she could help, but they both knew she couldn’t, neither of them could.

\-----------------------

Finally, they arrived at their destination, the Iwatodai Dorms, where they’d be living for the next year, courtesy of Gekkoukan Highschool. They had _finally_ returned after all these years. Pulling the door open, Makoto walked inside, followed by Kotone. Looking around, they found themselves standing by a counter at which a boy in black and white stood, unsettling eyes staring at them. _“You’re late.”_ He said simply, in an odd, yet young sounding tone. _“I’ve been waiting a long time for you two.”_ With a snap of his finger, he suddenly stood in front of the two. _“Now, if you want to proceed, please sign your names here.”_ The boy gestured to something on the counter, a folder which opened to reveal a piece of paper. _“It’s a contract. Don’t worry, all it says is that you’ll accept full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff.”_

Without a hint of hesitation, Makoto turned, and wrote his name on the paper, like he barely glanced at it. Kotone looked to the boy in confusion, before Makoto passed the pen to her, and she sighed, moving to sign as well, but read the contract silently to herself before signing.

_Time never waits._

_It delivers all equally to the same end._

_I hereby agree to the above,_

_and I chooseth this fate of mine own free will._

_Signature Block_ _Makoto Yuki Kotone Shiomi __

The boy smiled as she handed him the signed contract, holding it to his chest. _“Contract Received. Time delivers us all to the same end. You can’t plug your eyes and close your eyes.”_ _  
_ _  
_ Smiling to himself and eyes held closed, he outstretched his arm to the two. _“And so, it begins.”_ The boy said, before disappearing into thin air. Even Makoto was frowning at this point, the two siblings utterly confused. “Who… Was that?” Kotone asked although she knew she wouldn’t get an answer. 

Before they had the chance to ponder the strange event any further, a shout rang out in the Dorm. “Who’s there?!”

They both turned, to see a girl standing there, with brown hair and a pink sweater jacket, with a red ribbon around her neck, and- Was that a gun, fastened to her leg? Seeing the two of them, she reached down, grabbing hold of the gun, and was about to pull it out. Before Kotone could shout for her to stop, another voice interrupted. 

“Takeba, wait!”  


The brown-haired girl, apparently named Takeba, paused, looking behind her, where a woman with long, elegant red hair stood on the stairs. “But Kirijo-senpai-” She started to object, before the woman began talking. “Don’t worry, they’re ordinary transfer students.” Takeba frowned, looking back at the two, then back at the woman. “What do you mean, _ordinary?_ ” Suddenly, the lights began to turn on, and Makoto’s music player once again started playing. Kotone looked behind her, and sure enough, the coffins were gone, and the night sky returned to its usual blackness.

The woman walked down the stairs, and up to Takeba, still looking at the two siblings. “I didn’t think you’d arrive so late. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo, I’m one of the students who live in this dorm.” Still giving the two an untrusting look, Takeba muttered to Mitsuru. “But, why did they show up _now_?” Mitsuru glanced at her, then back to Kotone and Makoto. “It was a last-minute decision to assign them here. They’ll eventually be moved to the appropriate dormitories.” She said, speaking with an air of both dignity and authority. Takeba looked at her. “That’s what I- Never mind. Is it okay for them to be here?” The redhead paused. “... We’ll see.”

Not skipping a beat, Makoto simply walked back the two as they talked, earning a confused look from Takeba and a sigh from Kotone. “Don’t mind him, he’s just like this a lot.” Takeba seemed annoyed by this, turning and yelling at Makoto. “Hey, wait!” Staying calm and poised as before, Mitsuru glanced at Kotone, before fixing her eyes on Makoto, who had stopped in place. “Both your rooms are on the second floor, at the end of the hallway. Yours is on the right, and your sister’s is on the left. Takeba, escort them to their rooms. This is Yukari Takeba, like you both, she’ll be a junior this year.” She said, gesturing to the brown-haired girl. “I’m Takeba.” She said simply, still looking annoyed but resigned. “Makoto Yuki. Nice to meet you.” He said monotonously. “And I’m his sister, Kotone Shiomi, nice to meet you!” Kotone said, voice bubbly. “Yeah, same here. Nice to meet you.” Yukari responded. 

He glanced down at the gun strapped to her leg, then back to her without saying a word. Kotone was about to say something, but as if sensing the question, Mitsuru cut in. “It’s late, you should both get some rest.” She handed the room keys to Yukari, who sighed. “I’ll lead the way then. Follow me.” She walked forward, ahead of Makoto, and up the stairs. Makoto turned and followed, silent as ever.   
  
Kotone looked to Mitsuru, head full of question. “You must be tired too, it’s well past midnight.” Eyes looking at her expectantly, Kotone conceded, walking up the stairs under pressure from that intimidating look.

\-----------------------

  
Arriving at the end of the hallway, Yukari turned to them. “Here’s the keys to your rooms.” She said, handing them over. She hesitated for a moment but continued. “Um… Can I ask you both something? On your way to the station, was everything okay?”   
  
Kotone and Makoto’s eyes met for a moment, before looking back to Yukari. _Does she mean-_ Kotone thought to herself. Yukari almost immediately looked away. “Forget it. Sorry, it’s nothing. Well, good night.” She turned and walked away, presumably to her room for the night. The siblings looked at each other once more, before going to their own rooms to sleep for the night.


	2. Want to be Close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kotone and Makoto have their first day of school, and make friends with a certain baseball-cap wearing boy.

“Hey! Hey, are you awake? It’s Yukari!”    
  
Makoto Yuki looked up from the mirror, glancing at the door boredly as loud knocking sounded from the other side before another voice became audible.   
  
“Makoto? Come on, you’re up, right? We’re not about to be late for our first day because you couldn’t get out of bed!” The tone was clearly jokey, and cheerful as his sister tended to be.   
  
“I’ll be right there in a bit.” He responded simply, throwing on his coat and looking at the mirror again, his long hair curling down over his face. He pushed it out of the way, but it just fell back again almost immediately.

“Oh geez- Look, Mitsuru-senpai asked me to take the both of you to school, I can’t leave without you.” That voice was Yukari alright. “Don’t make all three of us late.”   
  
There was a pause, before he looked into the window at the trees below, catching sight of a certain redhead who was already well on her way. It seemed Mitsuru Kirijo was quite the early bird. “Understood.” He responded simply, watching the students and birds fly by.

* * *

A few hours later, the trio stood in a metro car, as it sped toward their new school, Gekkoukan High. Kotone was pressed up against the window glass, looking out in awe at the pretty sight. Yukari had to stop herself from snickering a bit, before glancing at Makoto, who leaned up against the side door, headphones in and blasting what sounded to be rock.   
  
”Hey, that’s it, right?” Kotone asked excitedly, pointing as the school came into view. “Wow, it’s bigger than I thought it’d be!” Makoto glanced up for a second, staring out the window, before darting back to the floor without a sound.    
  
_ What’s with him? It’s like he hates us all- No, more like he just didn’t care. _ Yukari thought to herself.  _ He’s really trying hard to look cool, huh? I bet he’ll cut it out in a day or two, Stupei tried that his first year too, didn’t even make it an hour. _ Her face turned into a grin as she thought back to the memory, before she heard Makoto speak.   
  
“Hey. Why do you carry around that gun?” Yukari turned her head back, to see him looking at her leg, where her “gun” was holstered. “It’s a fake, right? Some kind of BB gun? Japanese gun laws are extremely strict, and even if you somehow got one you wouldn’t wear it around in public.” Even Kotone paused, waiting for Yukari to answer.    
  


“Oh, well I-” She hesitated, looking away as the two stared at her. “It well- Er- It’s for a club, yeah. Just normal school stuff.”  _ Crap, was that convincing enough…? We’re not allowed to tell them about it, right? _

Makoto’s eyes moved to her arm, where she wore a bright red band with the word S.E.E.S. printed in stark black on it. “Does it has to do with that? Is it some kind of Honor Student thing?”   
  
Yukari blinked. “What- Oh, no it’s just for my club, along with Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai. Wait, you two haven’t met Akihiko-senpai yet though, right? He’s another boy who lives in our dorm.”

This time, it was Kotone who spoke up. “You all live in the dorm? That’s pretty coincidental, is it a club thing?” It seemed these two were surprisingly perceptive, annoyingly enough for Yukari. “I’d like to join! I mean, after we find out what kind of club it is.”

“Well um, you see-” At this point, Yukari was getting nervous, she wasn’t used to being put on the spot like this, especially when being poked at for something she wasn’t allowed to say. “It’s not really a club you can just ask to join. Like you said before, it’s kind of like an Honor Student thing, although my grades aren’t nearly good enough for that.” She said quickly, forcing on a smile.

Before either of the twins could respond, Yukari turned around, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. “Anyways, we’re almost here, look.” She pointed at the school, growing ever closer in hopes to change the subject. That got Kotone’s attention, and with the conversation switching away from that topic, Makoto glanced back at his feet in silence as the two girls chatted.

* * *

“-Starting today, you are all Juniors. Let’s all have a good year, but don’t do anything that gets me in trouble, okay? All right, that’s it for homeroom.” And with that, the first class of the day ended, and Makoto sat back in his seat, relaxing there for a moment before hearing a booming voice behind him.

“‘Hoy there, Mr. Transfer Student!”  He turned his head to see a boy, about his age with a baseball cap and a goatee, collar popped out. “... Who are you?” He said plainly.  “Hey now, no need to sound so cold! We’re all classmates here! Name’s Junpei Iori!” He said excitedly, leaning down to Makoto. 

“...” Makoto stared at the rambunctious teen. “Personal Space.” Junpei chuckled to himself, standing back up, and gesturing to himself. “I transferred here too actually, back when I was in the eighth grade. Trust me, I know how hard it is bein’ the new kid, so I just wanted to say ‘hey!’ Aren’t I a nice guy?” He said with a large grin, leaning back down

“Geez, you never change, huh? And I thought I’d finally be rid of you for a year… Well, a girl can dream.” The two boys turned their heads, to see Yukari standing there, Yukari shaking her head and sighing dramatically. 

“Ahh. good old Yuka-tan, lively as ever I see! I didn’t think we’d be in the same class again!” Yukari shook her head again, tone dripping with sarcasm. “I swear, you’ll talk to anyone if they’ll listen. Eventually, you’re going to run out of people to drive insane. Did you ever stop to think you’re bothering someone?” 

Kotone stepped forward, leaning against the desk. “Looks like the three of us are in the same homeroom! Isn’t that lucky?” She smiled at Yukari and Makoto, and Junpei frowned. “Eh? Wait, why do I feel like I’m being treated differently-” He shook it off though, leaning in close with Makoto. “Oh, by the way- People are talking about you and that chick hangin’ pretty closely! Transfer students hookin’ up already, huh?” He said, half-teasingly.

Makoto just stared blankly at Junpei for a moment. “... Personal Space. She’s my sister.” 

Junpei furrowed his brow, glancing at Kotone. “Wait, what? Huh, I really don’t see the family resemblance at all- Er, sorry, I guess I should ‘prolly clear up that rumor, eh?” He grinned sheepishly, standing back up as he scratched his head. 

As the now-quartet talked, the door to the classroom opened abruptly, to reveal Mitsuru standing in the doorway, a stern look on her face. “Takeba. Do you have a minute?”   
  
“Huh? Mitsuru-Senpai…?” She frowned at the redheaded senior. “What is it?” Mitsuru stopped for a moment, seeing the two siblings there, but soon continued without much reservation. “Come with me, I need to speak with you.” As quickly as she had entered, Mitsuru left the room, expecting Yukari to follow. “Mitsuru-senpai wait- Ugh, I can’t believe- I need to go, sorry.” Yukari grabbed her bag, quickly following behind her. 

“Huh, wonder what that was all about.” Junpei scratched his head, turning back to the siblings. “Maybe it’s for that special club she has, the one she has that fake gun for.” Kotone wondered aloud. Junpei’s brow furrowed. “Wait, I thought Yuka-tan was in Archery though, why would she be in two clubs..?” 


End file.
